Lord Nelson – 14/04/2014

Well, the last two days have been interesting. We had to leave our anchorage at Piriapolis as we started dragging our anchor on Saturday morning because the winds had increased faster than expected. We motored out towards sea and set sails as soon as we were clear, heading out towards the ocean. We spent the day with topsails and the inner jib set, sailing in SE direction. The strong wind made for great sailing, though the swell made a few of the crew feel a little worse for wear (All have recovered by now and are up and about again).

Yesterday morning after breakfast we ware ship to return to Punta del Este. Wind speed had reduced a little but still was around 40 knots, so we are quite proud of how well we did. The sea calmed down slowly, so we all had a better night’s rest last night before waking up to a gentle breeze with the ship only swaying gently. We have just handed all sails and are now heading in to Punta del Este harbour, excited at the chance to explore the town but a little sad that the voyage is almost over.

Hopes of seeing a rare species of dolphin that is native to the Rio de la Plate have not been fulfilled but we have seen many seals, so we are happy.

We are finally alongside in Punta Del Este having had a great voyage our total distance under sail was 92.23% of the voyage, this has to be one of the highest records on any voyage!

(Today is the 11th April and we are anchored on the tall ship Lord Nelson between Punta Del Este and the Island Gorriti, we left the anchorage setting the square sails and headsails so we could tack the ship through the wind. All the PC and volunteers helped us and the teamwork was very interesting, we felt like everyone is important on board. They have excellent organisation under the command of Captain Barbara. Afterwards we Sailed very pleasantly from Punta Del Este to Piriapolis where our watch was on from 12.30 to 4pm, sailing and helming this beautiful ship. We very much liked the dedication and patience that the crew has to explain all that we have to do. Also the way of working in a team that includes the crew and the way each of us can develop new skills).